Ra's al Ghul

Favorite DC Villains (10 items)
list by Mark Tonna

You'd expect an immortal, international terrorist to want many things, but perfecting the Earth isn't one of them. And yet that's been Ra's Al Ghul's goal during his many lifetimes. He tears down societies to have them rebuilt in a more ideal fashion, bent on crafting his version of a utopia. "The Demon's Head" has spent centuries slaving away at this vision, and even he has lost track of his exac... read more

Supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of the crime-fighting vigilante Batman. Created by editor Julius Schwartz, writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Neal Adams, the character first appeared in Batman #232's "Daughter of the Demon" (June 1971). The character is one of Batman's most enduring enemies and belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up Batman's rogues gallery, though given his high status as a supervillain, he has also come into conflict with Superman and other heroes in the DC Universe.

Most notable as the leader of the League of Assassins, Ra's al Ghul's name in Arabic translates to "Head of the Demon". He is the son of Sensei; the father of Talia al Ghul, Nyssa Raatko, and Dusan al Ghul and the maternal grandfather of Damian Wayne. Stories featuring Raʼs al Ghul often involve the Lazarus Pits, which restore life to the dying. The Lazarus Pits have considerably prolonged Raʼs' life, making him particularly dangerous as he has honed his combat skills for centuries.

Raʼs al Ghul has been featured in various media adaptations. The character was portrayed by David Warner in Batman: The Animated Series, Liam Neeson in The Dark Knight Trilogy, Jason Isaacs in Batman: Under the Red Hood, Dee Bradley Baker in the Batman: Arkham video game series, Matt Nable in the Arrowverse television series, and Alexander Siddig in Gotham.

IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time List ranked Raʼs as #7.